4. How much extra does a 1080p TV cost
Not surprisingly, you'll initially have to pay a premium to get the latest and greatest technology. If you take a look at the product lines of Sony, Samsung, and Mitsubishi, you can see that, on average, you can expect to pay about $1,000 extra for the bump in resolution. For instance, take the Samsung HL-R6167 (720p resolution) vs. the step-up HL-R6168 (1080p). At buy.com, the 6167 is currently going for $3,500 while the 6168 is $4,500. Eventually, of course, the gap will narrow, but it'll take a couple of more years for 1080p displays to become the standard.

5. Why you should buy--or not buy--a 1080p set
While we haven't posted any reviews of 1080p rear-projection sets yet--before you ask, we've requested review samples from most major manufacturers, and received some promises but no product yet--we have gotten early looks at several of the new models, some of them have been early, nonshipping units. These include HP's MD6580N, a 65-inch 1080p DLP, and Sony's KDS-R60XBR1, a 60-inch LCoS (SXRD) set that brings the technology from Sony's highly regarded Qualia 006 down to a more-affordable price point. After seeing 1080p in action, we've come to some conclusions.

Obviously, the quality of the source material you're viewing is very important, but so are screen size and how far you're sitting from your TV. Indeed, our resident video guru, Senior Editor David Katzmaier, reports that the extra sharpness afforded by the 1080p televisions he's seen is noticeable only when watching 1080i sources on a larger screen. Comparing a 50-inch 1080p DLP set to a 50-inch 720p DLP set, for example, he says you'll be hard-pressed to notice more detail with 1080i sources, especially from farther than 8 feet away. Even if you can see the difference, it will be much less obvious than, say, the difference between DVD and 720p HDTV. Of course, performance will vary from set to set, and we'll know more when we have a chance to thoroughly test more 1080p televisions.

Finally--and this may sound weird--but many 1080p televisions don't accept 1080p sources at all. In our experience, only the aforementioned HP can handle 1080p via its HDMI inputs--all other current 1080p HDTVs cannot. Instead, they upconvert 720p and 1080i sources to 1080p.

The bottom line: if you're thinking of going big, really big (a 60-inch screen or larger), the extra resolution may make it worth the difference--as long as you have a pristine, 1080i HD source to feed into the set. As to whether true 1080p sources from PS3, a Blu-ray deck, or an HD-DVD player look better--we'll have to wait until 2006 to find out. Of course, it's probably a good idea to buy--or wait for--a set that can accept a 1080p signal so that you'll be able to make that judgment.

i suppose the nearest would be 720p.

there's must be something wrong with your setting. SC2 looks more sharper and better textures in 720p than 480p. but yeah, for some strange reason SC2 will have black border on left and right when running in 720p. with 4:3 tv, you'll get black border all-round
this tv was sold for Rp.7,199,000 in Indonesia

if i remember correctly, all crt based hdtv upscale 720p to 1080i.
games like hulk: ultimate destruction also support 720p. try playing some avi files with xbmc. set it to 720p in xbmc setting, see the video quality are better than 480p.

it will display at the highest setting that your tv support. so if you prefer to play in 480p because there's no black border on 4:3 tv, then turn off the video mode that you didn't want.

blurry only when 720p, but not 480p rite? like that not the same problem with the link you give.

around 1k i guess not much choice of it. branded 29" can get around that budget, look for s-video and component input. just don't buy those cheap unknown brand tv, sure it's cheap but the quality is totally sucks.

yes, 21" might not much different with branded from china brand. but with 29" you could see how worst the china brand display quality. and the china brand has no extra function to give more value for money. branded you might get line doubling (100Hz) and better speaker for the tv. from what i heard that to cut cost some china brand manufacturer create 29" tv using 25" tv tube (the electron gun behind the tv).

1k - 1.3k can get 29" from samsung / philips / toshiba. just don't expect for hdtv lar.

720 = 1280x720
1080 = 1920x1080
both are only in widescreen format.

thats why i don't want 4:3 tv for hdtv. today went window shopping for tv, i really like samsung slimfit crt, the display quality can fight lcd or plasma, too bad it's 4k+, way out of my budget.

7k? that double than the samsung price.
my budget around 2k+ only.

btw, when you set xbmc to 720p, does the screen looks darker alot? mine does that, dunno is it like that wun or my vga box got problem.

i'm using nov05 build. go to setting>appearance>look and feel>resolution.

you can still play xb360 and (probably) ps3 @480p, but i believe after seeing 720p you won't want to go back to 480p rite?

btw, can you take a pic of your tv while running 720p? i want to see how big the black border is.

i guess the black border thickness is still acceptable for 29". how much did you say you bought it for? might choose this since widescreen tv still too expensive.

have to see first if my brother gonna take my current 29" tv. i saw at senQ now they got sony promotion which ends this month, but my brother only deciding it next month.

Lord_Ashe, since your tv doesn't support 720p, does that means if the tv being feed with 720p video it wouldn't display anything? or would it upscale/downscale it to 1080i/480p?

can your tv display Soul Calibur 2 in720p?

have you try off the DRC? and it even got 2 type of DRC rite? maybe the other one will yield better result.

btw, i just got back from watching DB29M61 in action. the display unit was put beside another sony tv that doesn't have DRC and both tv was displaying video from the same source. and side by side i can compare how suck interlace mode is, the DB29M61 only using composite but the video quality was still awesome, thanks to the DRC mode. i try off the DRC and the display become as worse as the other tv. the staff keep staring at me while i'm fiddling the tv function but i just ignore him.

btw, there is another tv, philips 34" RM2.3k, and the paper put there say it support 720p and 1080i. forgot to see the model number thought.

you're using the same tv as matrix is? there should be a choice of DRC1250 / DRC1050(?) / progressive rite?

my another day of fiddling with the DB29M61 display set, but this time i ends up paying for the tv
guess i kena racun too much already. but the tv will only arrive tomorrow.

cylon, did you just recently purchase the tv?
btw, the http://hdgames.net/ list tekken 5 support 480p 720p 1080i. Jak II also support 480p 720p 1080i. i believe http://www.hdtvarcade.com/ps2list.htm got more accurate info for games that support progressive.

why you choose this model instead of other? i'm still wondering did i choose the right tv or not.

so the philips will accept 720p video, only that Pixel Plus 2 will automatically upscale to 1080i, is that correct?

btw, what an *ahemness games got to do with displaying 720p or any other resolution? i mean, the games is just an exact copy of the ori rite, so nothing changed.

actually i already gaming in HD, but using 19" monitor lar.
your poison also quite alot! but once i see the real thing in action, the temptation is just way too much.
now headache where to put another 29"

but 29" with Pixel Plus 2 capabilities are much higher priced rite? around 2.8k? does Pixel Plus 2 also functions when in HD mode or only when 480i mode?

some interesting info of DRC
http://hometheaterhifi.com/forum/archive/i....php/t-544.html


This post has been edited by xxboxx: Jan 15 2006, 10:17 PM